NEW ORLEANS — Once again, Xavier University of Louisiana
is the choice of Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball coaches to
win the championship.
The Gold Nuggets received 7-of-9 first place votes
and 62 points in a preseason poll announced Thursday. SUNO was second with 53
points — the Lady Knights received one first-place vote —
and Talladega was third with 49 points. The other first-place vote went to
Tougaloo, in fourth place with 46 points.
It's the fourth straight year that Xavier is atop the coaches poll.
It's the 11th time in 12 seasons that the Nuggets finished
in the top two of the poll.
The Gold Nuggets have dominated the GCAC since the start of the 2009-10
season, winning 56-of-61 games against conference opponents — 48-4
in the regular season and 8-1 in the tournament. Xavier won regular-season championships
in 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13 — the GCAC did not crown a champion
in 2010-11 because of unbalanced scheduling — and tournament championships
in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.
The Gold Nuggets were 24-6 overall in 2012-13 and 12-2 in the GCAC.
Xavier will attempt to reach 20 victories for
the 13th consecutive season, which would extend a school record, and for the
21st time in 22 seasons. The Gold Nuggets also will try to qualify for the NAIA Division I
National Championship for the fifth consecutive year and the 18th time in 20 seasons.
The season — the 35th for the Nuggets in the Title IX era —
will begin in early November, and 15th-year coach Bo Browder hopes
to announce the schedule soon. The NAIA Division I Coaches' Preseason Top 25
will be announced Oct. 29.

The Xavier Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets compete in Division I of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) as a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC).
Xavier fields men's teams in basketball, cross country, tennis and track and field and women's teams in basketball, cross country, tennis, track and field and volleyball.